Stefan Wilson joins Dreyer & Reinbold for 2023 Indy 500

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has entered and qualified 45 cars in the Indy 500 dating back to 2000 with a best finish of fourth in 2012 with Oriol Servia. Cusick Motorsports was created as a marketing and business-to-business incubator and will be partnering with DRR for its third attempt at the Indianapolis 500.

For Wilson, 33, this will be a fifth attempt at Indy 500, after racing for the now defunct KVSH Racing in 2016, Andretti Autosport in ’18 and ’21, and DragonSpeed in ’22.

“I’ve been very impressed with how hard DRR has worked at and focused on the 500,” said Wilson. “It’s such an honor for me to join them in partnership with Cusick Motorsports and work with them on our collective goal of trying to win the Indy 500.

“There’s a great opportunity here for us to all grow together. I hope this leads to more 500s, and maybe even more races together.”

Wilson’s late and much lamented brother Justin Wilson drove for DRR for two seasons when Dennis Reinbold’s operation was still full-time in IndyCar, and in 2010 he scored runner-up finishes in St. Petersburg and Long Beach and a pole in Toronto. Stefan Wilson, who at that time was proving to be a podium finisher and in 2011 a race-winner in Indy Lights, said he got to know the team for whom his elder brother was driving.

“There’s history here with this team,” he said. “Justin spent two years with DRR back in 2010-2011 and secured podiums. I got to know Dennis, Brett De Bord [director of commercial operations], and Chase Selman, general manager, really well back then, so it feels great to be rejoining them, in a sense.”

Cusick Motorsports, founded in 2021 by Don Cusick, is based at The Thermal Club in Palm Springs, California, which next February will host IndyCar Spring Training.

“I am excited about our new partnership with Cusick Motorsports and Stefan Wilson,” said Reinbold. “Stefan and Don Cusick have been enjoyable to work with and we are focused on achieving success on and off the track at the Speedway.

“We are impressed with Stefan’s work ethic and grit which will apply well in the racecar. We are coming off top 10 finishes for the past two years and believe Stefan can replicate that and fight for the win.”

Cusick stated: “As soon as the checkered flag fell on the Indy 500 this year, we set out to find the best possible partner for the future. We have immense respect for what Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have done both on and off track over the years and quickly identified them as our ideal partner for this endeavor.

“We couldn’t be happier to partner with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, along with several long-standing and new partners in CareKeepers, Sierra Pacific Windows, 181 Fremont, Gnarly Jerky, LOHLA SPORT, Romak Iron Works, Mosaic Animal Care, The Thermal Club, and Mr. and Mrs. James Lowes. We’ve created a special relationship with our partners and Stefan Wilson, and partnering with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will have a significant impact as we move forward.”

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing confirmed it will again run two cars at Indy, with details of the second entry “to be announced in the near future.”